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Minority calls for review of $98 million Smarttys electrification deal

The Minority leader in parliament believed it is wrong for government to engage Smartty's production in another deal when the previous one involving the re-branding of 116 buses is still hanging.

 

Government is being urged to review a $98 million rural electrification deal involving Smarttys Production and Management Limited to ensure value for money.

The Minority Leader in Parliament Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who made the call said the deal was approved by parliament because the Majority used its number to ensure the deal went through on the last day of sitting before the Christmas break.

Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the minority leader said it is wrong for the government to engage Smartty's production in another deal when the previous one involving the re-branding of 116 buses is still hanging.

“When may be somebody is involved in criminality or malfeasance and the case has not been dealt with, do you give the person another contract when the first issue that he is involved in some impropriety has been uncovered, when you have not dealt with do you give the person or company another contract? You don’t.”

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“I felt because the ink had not dried up on this transaction, and apparently some fraud was involved in that, I felt the time was not ripe for us as a nation to be dealing with the same company again.

“From further probing we got to know that the executives had engaged some consultants to do some value for money for that project and some savings have been made; I understand in the neighborhood of 9 million dollars.

“Unfortunately, as usual, it was a minority voice and the majority voted on the final day of sitting for this programme, and I felt it was not good enough,” Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added.

In a sharp rebuttal, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Communications Minister challenged the Minority Leader to come out with evidence to support his claim.

“If has strong suspicion or strong evidence of impropriety it would be better for him to put that out with the exact particulars rather than extrapolating,” Dr. Omane Boamah added.

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